


venom v poison

by 101places



Series: AOS Advent [6]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Advent, Christmas Party, Drunken Shenanigans, Drunkenness, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Intoxication, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, SciOps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:22:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21735994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/101places/pseuds/101places
Summary: FitzSimmons attend a SciOps Christmas Party.( AKA : belated advent day 6 )
Relationships: Leo Fitz & Jemma Simmons, Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons
Series: AOS Advent [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1558597
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	venom v poison

**Author's Note:**

> i swear im going to catch up with this
> 
> content warning for intoxication & alcohol
> 
> as always, comments/kudos make me feel how fitz does at the end of this fic

Every year, there were Christmas parties. At University, at the Academy, and at SciOps. Every year FitzSimmons had been invited to them and, every year, they had watched their peers get drunk and have fun without being able to drink anything themselves. Sometimes, their peers would try to convince them to drink, “No one will know anyway, have some fun!”, but every time Simmons insisted that they couldn’t.

The rules were there for a reason. They couldn’t just break them.

Except, now they were 21. For the first time, they were able to attend a Christmas party and drink as much as they wanted.

Fitz was starting to think that wasn’t such a great thing, after all.

Parties had never really been his thing in the first place. He didn’t like the crowds or the noise. Mostly, he went to them because Simmons insisted. He thought she just might be able to talk him into anything.

Or, well, she’d be able to talk him into anything under normal circumstances. In her current state of intoxication he doubted she’d even be able to talk him into going to the zoo.

Currently, she was enthusiastically info-dumping about their current project to one of their peers. The poor man didn’t seem very interested - or maybe he just couldn’t follow Simmons fast-paced and confused speech - and tried to escape, but Simmons followed him, completely oblivious.

Fitz sighed and walked towards her, deciding to save the man. “Hey, Simmons. Come with me?”

Simmons looked over at him and beamed, bouncing over to his side. He felt a stirring of emotions at the way she looked at him, but he pushed them away, telling himself that she was drunk and would probably look the same way at a lamp.

“Wha’s wrong?” She asked after he’d brought her to a quieter corner of the room.

“It’s getting late, and I think you’ve had enough to drink. Why don’t we go back home?”

Simmons scoffed. “Live a little, Fitz! I’m having fun!”

That was about what he had expected. He sighed again, and inclined his head, letting her go off to enjoy herself some more. He didn’t want to spoil her fun, but he was beginning to get nervous - he wasn’t sure how well she could manage her alcohol. He kept an eye on her as she joined back in with the crowd of their peers.

For about an hour, the party progressed without any complications. A few times, Fitz was offered alcohol, but he turned it down. This wasn’t the place that he wanted to start drinking.

At some point, one of his colleagues who was only slightly tipsy came over and began to talk to him, and after a few minutes of uncomfortable awkwardness, he started to enjoy the conversation, finally taking his eye off of Simmons. This turned out to be a mistake.

The next he knew of Simmons was her raised voice, and his head snapped in her direction. A small crowd had gathered, and he could just about see the top of Simmons head in the center of it.  _ Oh no _ .

Fitz quickly excused himself and rushed to the crowd, pushing his way through until he was at the front. Simmons was in the midst of an intense argument with another one of their colleagues, and it seemed that she was about to turn the fight physical.

Before she could make the situation any worse, Fitz stepped forwards and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked over at him and opened her mouth as if she was about to try to drag him into her fight, but he cut in before she could start.

“Let’s get some air.”

He didn’t give her time to protest, taking her by the arm and dragging her outside, making sure to grab their coats as they headed out of the door.

Outside, the cold air hit Fitz like a wall, and he let go of Simmons so he could pull his coat on. Thankfully, she didn’t try to return to the party and, instead, stood on the spot shivering.

“You should put your coat on.” Fitz prompted, handing it to her.

He waited a moment for her to put it on, before he started leading the way down the street, heading back to their flat. Thankfully, Simmons followed behind him.

“Are we going home now?” She asked, sounding subdued.

“I think we’ve partied enough.”

Simmons was quiet for a few moments, before asking: “Are you upset with me?”

“Uh- Not really upset. Confused. I didn’t hear what started that.”

Simmons huffed. “He said that snakes are  _ poisonous _ .”

Fitz frowned. “Uh… aren’t they?”

“Obviously, there are a few species of poisonous snake - and even some that are both poisonous  _ and _ venomous, like the Japanese Grass Snake - but that clearly wasn’t what he was referring to!  _ Poisonous _ and  _ venomous _ aren’t interchangeable terms, Fitz!”

Fitz blinked slowly.

He didn’t know whether to be impressed that she remembered a specific snake to use as an example, or concerned that she had become so heated about a simple mistake that she had nearly started a fight.

“So, obviously, you tried to fight him.” Fitz summarised.

“I knew you’d understand!”

Fitz decided against pointing out that he’d been being sarcastic.

They continued to walk together in silence, until Fitz noticed that she was still trembling. He sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that night, and took off his coat, draping it around her. She looked over at him, surprised.

“Well, this is just silly.” She said, drowning in his too-big coat. “Now you’re just going to get cold.”

Fitz shrugged. “It isn’t far home, and you look like you need it more than I do.”

Simmons looked over at him skeptically. He was starting to shiver now, and he was sure that she could see it. She smiled, then stepped closer to him, latching onto his arm. Fitz froze up and looked down at her.

“What are you doing?” He asked, his voice oddly squeaky.

“Conserving body heat.” Simmons explained simply.

Fitz didn’t have an argument for that, and her clinging onto him was certainly helping to warm him up.

As they continued walking, her footsteps began to get slower, and when she let out a yawn Fitz realised that she was becoming drowsy. He was relieved that they’d left when they had. If she had insisted on staying until she fell asleep, he knew he wouldn’t have been able to carry her back home.

Not long after that, they arrived back at their flat. After fumbling with the keys for a moment, they got inside and Fitz let himself relax. Simmons stripped the two coats off of herself, then hesitated. Fitz looked over at her with a raised eyebrow.

“What?” He asked.

“Hmm. Thank you. For coming out with me, and looking after me. I know you don’t enjoy those parties.”

Fitz opened his mouth to tell her not to mention it, that he really didn’t mind, that he may not like parties but he loved spending time with her, but before he was given the chance to say anything she stepped forwards and pecked his cheek.

Then she headed back into her room and shut the door behind her.

Fitz stared after her and smiled goofily.

He knew that Simmons actions were nothing more than platonic. He’d long since accepted that there was never going to be anything else between them.

But that did nothing to stop the feeling of happiness growing in his chest.


End file.
